Today we'll be looking at Psalm 22, and here we see Jesus Christ as our Savior as He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins and mine, but also something of seeing Him as Lord as well as King, as King Jesus in the latter part of the Psalm. And then Psalm 24 for next week, we're going to see Jesus even more clearly as our glorious King. So I've decided to focus on these three Psalms, 22, 23, 24, in part in preparation for our communion time two weeks from today on September the 12th. So I want you to keep that in mind and I'll remind us again of that at the conclusion of the message this morning. The theme of our psalm for today, Psalm 22, is the cross and the crown. The cross and the crown. The first part of this kind of lengthy psalm, verses 1 to 20, speaks of and describes in great detail And then the second part, verses 22 to 31, describe for us the crown. The first part describes the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. The second part reveals the glory that would follow. And of course, all of this is a prophetic description, right? This is one of several messianic psalms that tells far in advance what would happen later, what Jesus would do when he came into this world to be our Savior. Now, let's look first then at the first 21 verses of the psalm. I'm not going to read the entire psalm. I'm going to be referring to some of the verses, but I want to read the first, the opening verses of the psalm. O God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One. You are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust. They trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved. In you they trusted and were not disappointed. The psalmist, David, the human author of this psalm, gives us an even more vivid description of the sufferings of Christ on the cross than we have even in the New Testament gospel accounts. One commentator says, this is the gospel even before the gospel. This is the good news of the cross of Christ, even long before it actually happened. And as we have it recorded, of course, in the New Testament scriptures and the gospel accounts. One author, one commentator in his work, Christ on the Cross, has a sermon on each verse of this 22nd Psalm, 31 sermons. I'm not going to do that to you this morning or these next several weeks. I just want us to notice some of the parallels between this Old Testament psalm and the New Testament gospel accounts, which are the fulfillment, which record for us the fulfillment of this messianic psalm. I want to be sure that we understand how Jesus fulfilled this Old Testament messianic prophetic psalm in every detail, down to every last detail. I want us to see, perhaps as never before, Jesus Christ on the cross, suffering for your sins and mine. And then following that, our Lord Jesus Christ crowned with honor and glory, King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, those opening verses of the psalm that I just read, this is the most often quoted part of Psalm 22. It was spoken by Christ himself as he was dying on the cross. And we have that recorded in Mark chapter 15. I'm going to read verses 33 and 34. Mark 15, 33 and 34. At the sixth hour, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, slama sanatani, which means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We have that mournful cry of our Lord Jesus Christ. He calls out, quoting these words from Psalm 22, Even though he knows the answer, he certainly knows why his father at that moment, when he bore your sins and mine, the sins of all whom God had called to faith in him through his son, he bore all of our sins upon himself. And a holy God could not look upon sin. And that's why the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, felt abandoned, as it were, even by his own heavenly Father. He did that. He suffered to that extent for you and for me. And we need to remember that, to think on that as we look forward to our celebration and our observance of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in a couple of weeks. Then going back to Psalm 22, verses 7 and 8 and verses 12 and 13, picture those who were gathered around the cross to taunt and to ridicule Jesus. The psalmist says, verse 7, all who see me mock me. They hurl insults, shaking their heads. He trusts in the Lord. Let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him. And then verses 12 and 13, many bulls surround me, strong bulls of Bashan encircle me, roaring lions tearing their prey, open their mouth wide against me. Going again to Mark. Well, we're not going to do that now, but also in verse 16, he goes on to describe the terrible torture and the excruciating pain of death by crucifixion. In verse 16, dogs have surrounded me. A band of evil men have encircled me. They have pierced my hands and my feet. And then in verses 14 and 17, picture the broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am poured out like water and all the bones are all my bones are out of joint. My heart is turned to wax. It has melted away within me. And verse 17, I can count all my bones. People stare and gloat over me. And in verse 18, look at verse 18 of Psalm 22. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. We see prophetically here what happened to the clothing, the very clothing that Jesus wore as he went to the cross. And at the time of his crucifixion, some were torn apart, divided among his tormentors, while his outer coat was kept intact to be won by gambling, by the casting of lots, as it was called. I want to read about that from the Gospel according to John, chapter 19, verses 20 through 25. John 19, beginning with verse 20. Many of the Jews read this sign. This was the sign that said, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. For the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, do not write the King of the Jews, but that this man claimed to be King of the Jews. And then Pilate answered, what I've written, I've written. When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them. With the undergarment remaining, this garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. Let's not tear it, they said. Let's decide by lot who will get it. And this happened, that the scripture might be fulfilled, the very words from Psalm 22, they divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. So this is what the soldiers did. It's interesting to me that there is no mention here in Psalm 22 of the spear, what we have recorded in the Gospel accounts, the spear that was thrust into the side of Jesus by one of the soldiers. It's recorded very clearly in the Gospel accounts. The possible reason for this is the fact that Jesus was already dead. The suffering Savior could not be represented as telling what happened after his death. And this is such a vivid description of the crucifixion that these words could not have been written by anyone else in history except Christ himself. No one else in the history of the world had such an experience as this except Christ himself. So let's keep in mind that this messianic psalm is prophetic. telling way in advance what was going to happen later when Jesus came and when he actually died on that cross. Now, this means that the human author, David, as he was guided by the Holy Spirit, has written down a record and description of events that would not take place until more than a thousand years in the future. Nevertheless, as we read, study, and sing and pray the words of this psalm, we're kneeling at the very foot of the cross. Now, note something with me, please. Between verses 21 and 22, the first half of the psalm and the second part of the psalm, there is silence. It doesn't say that, but I believe there is silence. It's a sudden and dramatic silence. The silence of death. Jesus had died on the cross. He had given up the ghost, as it says in scripture. He had entrusted his spirit to his heavenly Father. The second part of the psalm, beginning with verse 22, there's a shout. Following the silence of death, there's a shout, a declaration of victory. Verse 22, I will declare your name to my brothers in the congregation. I will praise you. This is a shout of victory that breaks the silence of death. Why? Because resurrection will take place. So prayer gives way to praise. Sorrow and suffering give way to joy and triumph and victory. We hear the same voice in part two of the psalm as in the opening verses, but the tone, the tone and the spirit is completely different. Instead of the cross, we now see the crown. This part of the psalm, there isn't even a hint of the suffering of the cross that we saw in the first part. Clouds of sorrow and death have rolled by, and now the day of eternal life and triumph has dawned. This triumph of grace, accomplished by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, encompasses the whole world. It encompasses the people of every land and every culture and every age. In the concluding verses, verses 27 to 31, we have a prophetic vision of Christ's universal kingdom. I want to read those closing verses now. Verse 27 through 31. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. And all the families of the nations will bow down before him. For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship. All who go down to the dust will kneel before him. Those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him. Future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn. For He has done it. He has done it. Who has done what? Very clear. Our Lord Jesus Christ has done what He said He had done when He breathed out His last words on the cross. It is finished. I don't know about you, but some have the idea that, well, he barely got those words out. They were just the weak, feeble words of a dying man. I don't believe that. I believe that he shouted as a shout of victory. It is finished. OK, what was finished? What was finished? Christ had done everything that was necessary, all that God the Father had assigned to him to do when he willingly, voluntarily came into this world to be our Savior and our Lord. All of his redemptive work, all that he committed this world to do was finished. And of course, his sufferings were finished, too, both the physical and the emotional suffering in his separation from God the Father during that time. Christ has done this. He suffered all that's described in the first part of the psalm, too, as we read in verse 29, to rescue those who were going down to dust. In other words, destined to return to the dust from which we and all human beings have come. So by his finished work on the cross, Jesus Christ does not simply get people out of hell, but rather he saves us. He saves his people from going there in the first place. So when Jesus cried out, it is finished. It was a shout. It was a cry of triumph. All his sufferings were finished, all the prophecies concerning Jesus Christ were fulfilled, including the wonderful prophecies here in this 22nd Psalm. He said, I finished the work which you've given me to do. He said that in his great intercessory prayer in John chapter 17. But as we said, more important than all of this, his work of redemption was accomplished. Nothing remained to be done for the salvation of men except our repentance, our turning from sin. and are turning in faith and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that too, the Scriptures tell us, is not of ourselves. That faith also is a gift from Almighty, our Almighty and Sovereign Heavenly Father. So, when we read and when we sing later on at the conclusion of the service, He has done this. All of that is what the Lord Jesus Christ has done in our behalf. by his finished work on the cross. I want to encourage all of us to read, reread this entire psalm, comparing it with the New Testament gospel records of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I've done this very quickly in summary form this morning, but I want you to continue with that in preparation for our communion time in a couple of weeks. continue to read and study and sing and pray through this Psalm 22 and then 23 and then next week as we also look at Psalm 24. I want us to be able to see with a clear vision and a clear understanding the cross and the crown of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This psalm and of course the entire Bible is all about him. It's all about his life. his death, his resurrection, his ascension back into heaven, and the fact that he now sits at the right hand of God the Father, making intercession for you and for me. And it's up to us to tell others, including future generations that have not even yet been born, that he, our Lord Jesus Christ, has done all of this. So the glory of the crown is in the cross. In other words, without the cross, there would have been no crown. There would have been no victory over sin and death as described in the great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15. So somebody asks you, well, why? Why did Jesus have to die? When you think about that for yourself, why did Jesus have to die that terrible, humiliating, excruciating death on the cross? This is the answer. This is the reason. There could have been no crown. There could have been no victory over sin and death. unless he had willingly submitted his will for that of the Father and said, nevertheless, Father, not my will, not my will, but yours be done. He knew what had to be done, and he knew that he was the one who had to do it. So even though the first part of the psalm is, as you noticed, a bit of a downer, if it's considered all by itself, our hope is in both the cross and the crown. the cross and the crown of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, just before his death on the cross, Jesus promised, because I live, you will live also. Great hope, great comfort in the cross and the crown, so vividly described here in this As I mentioned at the beginning of the message, we're focusing on these three psalms, 22, 23, next week, 24, in preparation for our communion time scheduled for just two weeks from today. So a good way to prepare for communion would be to read, as I've indicated already, and to study, and to sing, and to pray through these psalms. I'm planning to do that, and I hope that you'll join me in doing that over these next couple of weeks. Almighty God, our gracious Heavenly Father, as we think about our Lord Jesus Christ on that cross, crying out to you, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We know the answer, as did he. We are so thankful, so grateful that he took all of our sins and the penalty for all of our sins upon himself. And because you are holy and you could not look upon sin, you had for that moment to turn your head, even from your own son. We thank you, Father, for such a great love as this, that you've commended, you've proven your love to us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us with that burden of our sins upon himself. So we thank you, Father, for that great salvation that you have provided to the sacrifice of your son and our Savior. We're thankful for his willingness to suffer all that he suffered during his short life here on earth, all of the insults and the abuse that he suffered, even as he hung upon the cross bearing our sins. Thank you so much, Lord Jesus, for all that you did, all that you have done, all that you continue to do on behalf of your people. We thank you, O God, for that silence in the midst of this marvelous psalm, that silence of death that reminds us of all that Jesus has done for us. But we thank you also that now we can declare your name in the congregation. We can praise you because you not only died upon the cross, but you were raised from the dead and ascended back to your throne in heaven, and that you are now wearing that crown. with which you have been crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Thank you for being not only our Savior, but also our risen and ruling Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that we can join all the families of the nations in bowing down before you, acknowledging that all dominion belongs to you as Lord, that you rule over the nations. Thank you that the rich and the poor alike can kneel before you. And thank you, Father, that we have the marvelous privilege of sharing the good news, this good news of the gospel, even before the gospel accounts in the New Testament, that we can share this good news with others around us, with those of our children, our grandchildren, our friends, our families, and even those who are not yet born, but those who will be born, as we were reminded this morning, that we can share the good news of your cross and of your crown with him as well. Thank you so much for this psalm. Thank you for your message to us through this psalm. Help us to continue to think upon it, to meditate upon it, to read it and to sing it and to pray it in preparation for our coming together to observe the sacrament in a few weeks. Thank you for your blessing on our worship this morning. And in our fellowship this morning, continue to bless us, Father, in our continued fellowship through the day. And help us remember this is indeed your day. Help us remember this and to rejoice, to be glad in it, to be glad in you. We thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name.